PORT ANGELES — Concerned that they both may be found liable for contamination of Port Angeles Harbor, the city of Port Angeles and Nippon Paper Industries USA agreed last year to share information that they can use for a legal defense.
The “common interest agreement” went into effect July 22 and says the two parties will share information to conduct a “joint defense against any and all claims that may be asserted against them with regard to contamination in Port Angeles Harbor.”
City Attorney Bill Bloor said the agreement was made an anticipation of the findings of the state Department of Ecology’s sampling of harbor sentiment last summer. That report is expected to be released for public review in July or August.
Rebecca Lawson, Ecology’s toxics cleanup program regional manager, said Ecology will try to find liable parties in the cleanup of the harbor from that report.
Bloor said the intent of the agreement is to allow the city and Nippon to share information, such as legal analysis or environmental reports, without waiving attorney-client privilege.
He said such agreements are common, and referred to the agreement as a precaution. Bloor added that it hasn’t been used yet.
“As issues developed, it became apparent that at a minimum, the city and Nippon had a common interest because both had potentially contributed to pollution into the harbor,” he said. “So both were potentially subject to administrative regulation or litigation as a result of the pollution that might have been contributed.”
Paul Perlwitz, Nippon environmental manager, said the agreement also allows the city and Nippon to jointly fund work, such as paying for a consultant to interpret environmental reports.
Perlwitz said Ecology’s investigation could put any business or entity that owns property on the shores of the harbor on the hook for cleanup.
“Anyone on the shorelines of Port Angeles Harbor could be a liable party,” he said.
The agreement also says that both parties will take “appropriate steps” to keep the information shared confidential, but it also allows other parties to sign on to the agreement..
Bloor said the city could be found responsible for pollution the harbor because of untreated sewage that overflows into the harbor during heavy rainfall.
Perlwitz said the mill, which Nippon purchased in 1988, did discharge waste into the harbor until 1971.
Since then, the mill has had a 1,700-foot-long discharge pipe into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Perlwitz said the mill may have also contributed to pollution of the harbor through wood waste from storing logs on the surface of the harbor in the past.
Asked if the agreement is meant to limit cleanup of the harbor, Bloor said: “That’s not what is behind this. People can jump to all kinds of conclusions, and that doesn’t meant that their conclusions are correct or deserve any weight.”
Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
